We know. It’s been a while. Again. Before we get ahead of ourselves, let us direct your attention to the HillyTown Songkick calendar (aka the current form of our showlist) for all the recommended concerts we think you should know about.

In a bit of exciting news, we’re finally putting things in motion for the future shape of HillyTown, which you’ll be hearing more about in the coming months. What you can expect will be regular updates, more live show coverage, and – of course – more events. We’re excited and we hope you will be too.

Before all of that, we have an announcement! HillyTown Presents NYC is back in action, pairing Maine bands up with local and national acts for shows in NYC (see also WHAT BLOG?!, our collaboration with a few of our music blogger friends). It’s been a while since we’ve done these regularly, so we’re psyched to get back into it on February 1st at Union Hall. Read on for details!

For the second year in a row, we put together an official showcase as part of the Brooklyn-based Northside Festival. This time, we teamed up with our friends at StereoActiveNYC (full disclosure: HillyTown was sort of an offshoot/Maine-companion of SANYC in the beginning) and had some help from BreakThruRadio to put together a free, all-day show featuring 12 bands. Maine acts included Sunset Hearts, The Coalsack In Crux, and Lisa/Liza, sharing the stage with some familiar Brooklyn bands such as Miniboone, Clouder, and Weird Children (all of whom have done various HillyTown/Maine things over the past couple years) – among others.

Thanks so much to all the bands, the venue, Northside Festival, and everybody who came out to spend their Sunday/Father’s Day with us in Brooklyn!

While we’ve been keeping things a bit quiet here on the site, we’ve been busy prepping for a full summer of events! Things start off this weekend, as The L Magazine’sNorthside Festival takes over North Brooklyn, and we’re back for our second annual HillyTown showcase.

On Sunday, June 16, HillyTown is teaming up with StereoActiveNYC (which you may or may not be familiar as the NYC-based blog/showlist precursor to this site, in a way) for a FREE, ALL DAY official Northside showcase featuring bands from NYC and Maine, all at Spike Hill in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

We know that this is a pretty busy weekend in Portland, so we decided to give the Maine music fans in NYC a little excitement too. This weekend, The Rattlesnakes are heading south, hitting NJ, NY, and MA (check out their tour flyer below). This Sunday, August 5, they’re stopping at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY for a HillyTown Presents shindig featuring two local bands that we’ve been loving lately: Troubled Sleep (who also played our Northside Festival Showcase recently) and The Split. Check out some audio evidence of the awesomeness waiting for you on Sunday, then come out to the show (or tell your friends in NY about it!). FB details/RSVP are here. Purchase tickets for $7 here. Continue reading HillyTown NYC Presents: The Rattlesnakes + Troubled Sleep + The Split!

Hello friends of HillyTown, Maine music lovers far and wide. We’re very, very excited this weekend. Why? Because tomorrow will be our first time participating in the L Magazine’s Northside Festival, held in and around the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. We were invited to curate a showcase featuring Maine and Brooklyn bands, and we’re psyched about the lineup we put together for it! Things get started tomorrow – Saturday, June 16 – at 5pm at The Grand Victory. Free with festival pass or $9.

Our dear friend Aly Spaltro should need no introduction around here. We’ve watched Lady Lamb go from a duo playing to a few friends at Slainte Wine Bar to playing huge festivals and theatres (a prediction we made from our first encounter), and we couldn’t be happier for her. She’s currently wrapping up a new album here in Brooklyn, which we’re highly anticipating to be a new favorite the second it hits earholes from New York to Maine and beyond.

Though they’re a Brooklyn band, we first encountered Weird Children when they contacted us about playing last year’s Picnic Festival in Portland. We’d known a couple members of the band from other NYC acts they’d been in, and were pleasantly surprised when they blew us away on the stage in Lincoln Park. Thus began a now year-long love affair. Check out their BTR session to get to know the band – maybe a little too well.

Here’s a fun fact: before I actually moved from Brooklyn to Portland, ME in 2008, I took a few trips up, making sure to check out some local music each time when I could. The first show I saw at SPACE Gallery was the Cave Singers, and local band Brenda opened. The band has grown and changed significantly since then, building a strong local and regional reputation.

A sort of supergroup of a particular piece of the NYC music scene, Flying Pace will be celebrating their first release at this show tomorrow. Their debut collection of songs comes in two parts: Quick as a Wink is the first EP (or Side A) and will be available tomorrow. The second EP (or Side B) is called Quiet As A Mouse and will be unveiled on July 20 with a show at Union Hall (we’re presenting that one too, so there will be more on that later!)

Sunset Hearts – 10pm (Portland, ME)Deco Tech EP by Sunset Hearts
Last year’s debut from this 80’s-inspired Portland music scene megaband, Haunted Cloud, made a huge mark and earned this 9-piece group some huge praise and great opportunities. Now, their recently-released followup, the Deco Tech EP, sees the group growing as a band (the original batch of songs was written, composed, and demoed by songwriter/frontman Casey McCurry, while this release sees perhaps a bit more collaboration and influence from the massive group). We’re anticipating a fun close to the night with them, spilling out into the room (because really, that stage area is pretty small and there are a whole lot of humans in this band!) and bringing the infectious dance to everybody around.

Our recent week of shows in Maine was great, but now we’re back to doing that other thing we do, where we hook up our favorite Maine acts with shows in NY! We’ve got one happening this week, featuring the patron saints of HillyTown, Phantom Buffalo!

Tonight’s show at Cameo Gallery (located in the back of the restaurant The Lovin’ Cup Cafe on N. 6th) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has been in the works for a while and we couldn’t be more excited to present this one. Things start off with doors at 8pm and Brooklyn power garage pop band Weird Children, celebrating a new digital single, a new video, and their first trip to Austin next week. Following them will be Bangor, Maine’s own guitar-and-drums power duo, When Particles Collide, hot off recording a new album. Diehard step the rock factor up even more (by the way have you heard their excellent new covers EP?). Quiet Loudly emerge to close the night out in their usual epic manner.

We’re at it again. This Tuesday, A Severe Joy will be in Brooklyn to play one of our shows, this time with an emphasis on the electronic pop/dance genres. This one is going to be great. Flyer and info below:

Contact us!

First time here? Start with the blog for news, mp3s, videos, and photo galleries, then check out our showlistto see what's happening tonight, this weekend, or next month.

Send comments, questions, contributor submissions (we're always looking for more writers and photographers!) and feedback to hello@hillytown.com. To submit Maine music news, please write to music@hillytown.com. Please note that we do not do album reviews, but feel free to suggest records on Bandcamp or Soundcloud to feature, or tell us about your upcoming tour.